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One of the popular Munda hamlets in Chota- Nagpur is Datinakhali.
This name sounds like Dakshina Kali! Dakshina Kali is the form of Kali who
drinks the blood of the people slain in a battle field and dances on dead bodies
in the battle field. (This description is found in many texts of Tamil Sangam
literature). Her fury is such that she
tramples on her consort Shiva while dancing over the corpses. There is no
Puranic basis for this description of Dakshina Kali. This could have come up
from the Mundas and Savaras due to the loss of their folks in a war with
Parashurama where no rhyme or reason was followed on who was being killed and
why. There is evidence to show that this
Kali was indeed a deity personified by this terror struck people and
propitiated well for release from a recurrence of similar fatalities.
There is a shrine for Dakshina Kali in Jagannath temple at
Puri.
Entrance of the Dakshina Kali temple.
When we go through the culture of Savara also known as Saora, Saura and Sabara living
in the hills of Jharkhand, Odisha and coastal Andhra, we come to know that a Savara king by name
Viswabasu (Vishwavasu ) had worshiped Lord Nrusimha!
This is a surprise connection because their saviour was Singavanga or
Singabonga – an entity with the name lion. This Lord Nrusimha was in Neela
giri, the place which is now known as Puri!. This lord was called as Neela Madhabha. The image of the deity was made of
the wood of a tree – a thing that Mundas considered as having the soul as their
ancestors were saved by the trees. The Savara king had worshiped in secrecy
and no one knew where this deity was housed. Why such secrecy should happen, if
it is not for the reason that the Mundas and Savaras had been for ages living
in fear of being found out and killed? The fear must have existed initially but
later on such secrecy and seclusion could have become a habit.
In due course the Savara king was duped by King Indradyumna to reveal the location of this deity
but managed to hide it under the sand. However the deity revealed Itself to
King Indradyumna who was pursuing it
with devotion {1}.
That deity is worshiped as Lord Jagannatha of Puri.
This story has been detailed in Skanda Purana, Brahma Purana and other
works found in Oriya language.
Puri is the location of both Dakshina Kali and Lord
Nrusimha who was supposed to have been worshiped by the Savara king. The
whereabouts of Nrusimha temple was never known. No one had ever seen this
deity. It was only hearsay that Savaras worshiped Nrusimha perhaps due to their connection with
Singbonga. But the deity that he was supposed to have worshiped came to be
called as Jagannatha. He worshiped an image made of wood. The image of Puri
Jagannatha is also made of wood. If
some myth makers wanted to weave a story around Lord Jagannatha, they need not
have invented a story with a king of Savaras coming from a previous time of the
actual consecration of Lord Jagannatha. In fact Savaras were not thought of
as elites. It serves no purpose to have invented a Savara
connection to this deity unless such a thing had happened in reality.
Another information from Puranas is that Lord Jagannath Himself was Dakshinakalika. It is also true
that a temple of Dakshina Kali does exist in Puri and is associated with Lord
Jagannatha {2}. Perhaps to conceal the
movement of Savara kings outside their hide-outs, confusing ideas were floated.
But once found out, the Savara king had withdrawn. The deity he worshiped
continued to exist in another form (Jagannatha) thanks to King Indradyumna. The
period of Puri Jagannatha is such that it must have been certainly before 2000
years. The iconographic details of the 3 deities of Krishna-siblings (that we
find in Jagannath temple of Puri) were in existence as we find them in Brihad
Samhita 58- 35&36 written by Varahamihira.
The presence of Dakshina Kali in the same place cannot be
ignored as a recent development, for, Dakshina Kali had better relevance for
Savaras and Mundas as people who suffered sudden annihilation in the hands of
Parashurama. Parashurama had attacked
kshatriyas again and again for 21 times. Perhaps Puri and its surrounding
regions were the location of Savaras and Mundas before they were attacked by
Parashurama. This location corroborates with the description in Mahabharata
where Savaras are mentioned along with Kiratas
and Yavanas. (12-64-3569, 13-14-1074,
13-35-4170). Of these people, the location of Kiratas is given in no
uncertain terms that they (Kiratas) were “living on the northern slopes of
the Himavat and on the mountain from behind which the sun rises and in the
region of Karusha on the sea-coast and on both sides of the Lohitya mountains.”
(2-51-2138). This puts them in North east India of Arunachal Pradesh,
Assam etc.
The Vangas occupied present day Bengal and Bangladesh.
South – south west of it was Kalinga where
Puri / Dakshina Kali are located. The ancestors
of Savaras and Mundas, had they lived in
this region of Kalinga and were killed by Parashurama, then there is every
reason to believe that this place became the place of Dakshina Kali –
the Kali who drinks the blood of people killed in battle and dances on their
corpses. Even after they had managed to flee and take a hiding in Chota Nagpur
mountains, they – who were hell bent of worshiping their ancestors till today-
could have come to this place to pay obeisance to the killed ancestors and
appease Dakshina Kali who was symbolically associated with battle fields.
Puri being the location of
Dakshina Kali could have been the ancestral region of Mundas and Savaras. This
location is close enough to Haihaya location and Parashurama’s location at
Mahendragiri.
Kartha veeryarjuina of Haihayas was the main enemy of
Parashurama. His kingdom was in Mahishmati, in
present day Maheshwar.
Though Parashurama’s exact place of birth is not known he
was known to have done penance at Mahendra giri
in today’s Odisha. This is corroborated with Mahabharata narration of
Parashurama during the pilgrimage of the Pandavas. {3}. Thus the link between the regions of Mundas
(Dakshina Kali), Mahendra hill of Parashurama and Mahishmati exists.
Parashurama has attacked Savaras, Vangas, Angas, Malavas etc
who were all neighbourhood people in this part of the country. He had cleansed
the regions north, south and east of the Vindhyas of every kshatriya living at
that time.
The Haihayas had been completely decimated. The Savaras
(saura worshipers – on the east coast of Odisha where Konark Sun temple was
established in later days) were attacked and made to flee. Their final
destination was Chota Nagpur in Bihar. Later they spanned to Sundarbans.
This dispersal on the wake of threat from Parashurama makes
sense for the seclusion of these people, cutting off all connection with rest
of the country. Vanga Desa being close-by, Singa Vanga (Singbonga) and his men
had fled with Savaras. He restored order in the new settlement and
enforced the do’s and dont’s for the safety of the people. This made him their
foremost God whose rules they followed in toto and dared not to violate them
for fear of exposure to Parashurama’s fury. This stayed on as a habit as time
went by. The Savaras perhaps known for Saura worship
had fused the idea of sun worship with Singbonga. In course of time, due
to lack of exposure and education, the original meaning of words were lost.
Bonga in Singbonga was taken to mean just “God”.
Such kind of mutations in meaning is not seen in words of
universal understanding. For example the word ‘parba’ in Munda festivals
such as Mage Parba and Makar parba refers to ‘parva’, the Sanskrit word for festival. This word and
its meaning were wide spread and therefore did not undergo drastic changes as
with ‘bonga’ that came to mean ‘god’. Parba is found among Tulu speakers as “koral parba” which is the equivalent of Kadamba
festival. Koral parba refers to the parva of koral, which refers to corn. {4}
“Koral” is in fact a Tamil word “Korali”,
a synonym for a millet called “thinai”. This Koral is known as ‘thene’
in Tulu which is the stunted Tamil word “thinai”, the millet. The Koral parba in Tulu is
called as Thene Habba
– habba is the word corrupted from Pabba < parba < parva. Here we find a
mix of Tamil and Sanskrit words. Parva > Parba found in Munda languages
could either be an influence from Kurukhs or a continuing tradition with Munda
speakers. But the meaning had not changed while the word had changed.
Such retention of meaning happens in widely used or common terms. In contrast
Bonga that mutated from Vanga was not a widely used word and hence lost its
meaning in course of time.
Mage Parba.
The Mage Parba celebrated by Munda speakers carry an
important feature of Parashurama’s connection. Among the Mundari speakers,
Santals and Oraons do not observe Mage Parab (Mage festival). Only Mundas and
Ho people celebrate it {5}.
For Munda people this festival and its timing is very important. They celebrate
it on the Full Moon day in Paus month which
comes in December – January. For them this festival marks a remembrance and
worship of ancestors or worship of Orabongako, referring to house-hold Gods.
The striking similarity is that this is the day of Dattatreya Jayanthi observed in Andhra and central Indian regions.
Dattatreya
was the preceptor of Haihaya rulers.
Karthaviryarjuna had followed him. This is taken to mean that friends of
Karthaviryarjuna also had followed him. The Mundas being a clan who fell to the
wrath of Parashurama could in all possibility be the followers of Dattatreya.
The Mage Parba observed for deceased ancestors
and Household God might refer to the remembrance of
Dattatreya from their earlier tradition. This feature of Mundas is
not found with any other clan of the Mudari speakers.
Coming to the name of the festival, Dattatreya’s birth day
falls on Full Moon of Paush which is the solar month of Margazhi in Tamil. This
month is also called as “Magasiram”
in Tamil, which is a Tamilised word for Sanskrit Margashira. Maga, Magasira etc
refer to Margazhi month (solar Sagittarius / Dhanur masa) in Tamil. This word
in Munda language as Mage+parab shows the presence of both Tamil and Sanskrit
in the language of the ancestors of Mundas.
Dattatreya Jayanthi has no followers in Tamil nadu. In fact
Dattatreya is not at all a known figure in Tamil lands. Only people who were
connected with Haihayas or living in the vicinity of Vindhyas and Naramada must
have followed him. Both Dattatreya of Atri clan and
Jamadagni (father of Parashurama) of Bhargava / Brighu clan had co-existed in the vicinity of Vindhya ranges or
Narmada river. The Bhargavas were not favoured by the Haihayas and their friends.
They patronised the Atris. The worship of preceptors is a Vedic tradition. The
Haihayas and their friends must have done that which is why Dattatreya Jayanthi
continues to be observed till today in those parts of India where they lived. This
Jayanthi is observed in Andhra regions too. This fits with our deduction of
early roots of Mundari people in nearby Odhisha (Puri). It must be remembered
that the Mundari speaking groups are found in Andhra coast also. For the people
who had been suddenly cut off from rest of the society, the special dates of
previously followed traditions can be best remembered by the lunar days. The
crux of the festivals had been remembered and retained but other details were
lost over generations.
Yet another imprint from Mundari practices that shows their
previous connection to Vindhyas and Narmada is found in a practice among Santals,
an important Mundari speaking tribes. This practice gives further clues on why
the Mundas are called as they are. It will be discussed in the next part.
(continued in Part 3)
References:-
{3} Vana parva, Chapter 115 to 118
{5} “The scheduled tribes of India”, Goving Sadashib Ghurye,
p. 267
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